By .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
19 Feb 2014

Vanessa Williams

Photo by Joseph Marzullo/WENN

Multi-platinum recording artist and actress Vanessa Williams, who was Tony-nominated for her performance in Into the Woods, has been announced as a special guest star vocalist in the Broadway musical revue After Midnight.

An announcement was made Feb. 19 in a live appearance from the stage of the Brooks Atkinson Theatre that Williams will begin performances April 1. She will play through May 11.

Having sold millions of albums worldwide, Williams was most recently seen on Broadway in the Tony-nominated play The Trip to Bountiful. Her other credits include Broadway's Kiss of the Spider Woman and Sondheim on Sondheim as well as the St. Louis Woman for City Center's Encores! As a recording artist, she has garnered 11 Grammy nominations, and she is also known for her three-time Emmy-nominated performance as Wilhelmina Slater in "Ugly Betty."

After Midnight reintroduces the Cotton Club's tradition of welcoming the stars of today in limited engagements throughout its run. Grammy Award-winning artist K.D. Lang currently plays through March 9 and will be followed by Grammy Award-winning artists Toni Braxton and Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds (March 18-30).

Advertisement

Grammy winner Fantasia Barrino, who won critical praise for her performance as the first special guest star vocalist in After Midnight, opened the show (formerly titled Cotton Club Parade, the production conceived by Tony Award winner Jack Viertel that played two engagements at New York City Center) Nov. 3, 2013, at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre.

*

Tony Award winner Adriane Lenox, who appeared in the revue at New York City Center, reprises her performance in the Broadway engagement, which also features Tony Award nominees Desmond Richardson and Karine Plantadit, Grammy Award nominee Everett Bradley and Emmy Award-nominated actor Dulé Hill (Stick Fly, The Tap Dance Kid, "The West Wing," "Psych") as "The Host" of the evening. Hill leads the audience through the heat and glamour of the Harlem Renaissance using the words of Langston Hughes.

"I'm the host. I'm your captain. I'm your pilot," explained Hill, "so I take you along your journey. I'm on the outside looking in. I take you by your hand, and we're weaving... I come in and out of the story throughout the night."

The band includes 17 soloists and ensemble players, including Mark Gross, Godwin Louis, Daniel Block, Andrew Farber and Kurt Bacher on woodwinds; Gregory Gisbert, Bruce Harris, Alfonso Horne and James Zollar on trumpets; Wayne Goodman, Arthur Baron and James Burton III on trombones; Adam Birnbaum on piano; James Chirillo on guitar; Jennifer Vincent on bass; and Alvester Garnett on drums.

Here's how producers Sanders and Marsalis bill the production: "Jazz is a state of mind. It's a structure for innovation, forward momentum and freedom. The evocative new musical After Midnight will take the sexy, smoky glamour of the original Jazz Age and catapult it into a whole new era of heart-pounding, mind-blowing entertainment for modern Broadway audiences. Refracted through a contemporary lens, After Midnight will celebrate Duke Ellington's years at the Cotton Club using his original arrangements and performed by a world-class big band of 17 musicians hand-picked by living jazz legend, Wynton Marsalis. The timeless tunes set against a narrative of Langston Hughes poetry will provide an authentic backdrop for an array of cutting-edge performances by 25 sensational vocalists and dancers, including special guest stars, whose interpretations will shatter everything you think you know about music, nightlife and Broadway. Welcome to the new Jazz Age."

After Midnight includes pieces by jazz composers of the time, including Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields ("I Can't Give You Anything But Love" and "Digga Digga Doo"), Harold Arlen ("Stormy Weather," "I've Got the World on a String," "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea") and Duke Ellington ("Rockin' in Rhythm," "Cotton Club Stomp," "Black and Tan Fantasy" and "Creole Love Call").

After Midnight marks the Broadway debut of fashion designer Isabel Toledo (costumes), who is known for creating Michelle Obama's first inauguration day dress. Ruben is an award-winning artist who renders all of Isabel's designs and is the author of "Style Dictionary."

"Cues from the past inspire us to create something new and singular," said Toledo in a previous statement. "The opportunity to delve into the theatre world via the sultry innovative nightlife scene of the jazz age was too tantalizing too pass up. Jazz is deeply entrenched in my creative process, it all starts with rhythm."